The next big tech thing

A screenshot from the game 'Bangladesh-71'

eSophers is one such group comprised of students yet to graduate. Their debut project was much-talked about -- 'DhakaRacing', the first 3D game made in Bangladesh.

One of their upcoming projects is the first person shooter and strategy game called Bangladesh-71.

One of the developers, Ashik Noon, said it is the very first strategy game to be completed by end of December. They are hoping to launch the product by next January.

One of the amazing features of this new gaming product is that it enables participation by gamers and enthusiastic individuals about our War of Independence. The developers are welcoming real life short stories related to the great war for the development of the game. Visitors may submit write-ups using a link at their official website http://bangladesh-71.games.esophers.com/. The compilations once judged, finest stories would be selected for the different levels of the game. The winners will be entitled to a place in the credits section.

This is indeed a great step towards preserving the national heritage.

And this is the very first time a game will be developed using a game engine called Agni, which has been developed by the group, said Ruman Zakaria, game programmer and Ali Imran, 3D graphics artist.

The making of the game can be divided into two broad categories -- '3D modelling' and 'Engine development & Game programming', stated Imran and Ruman.

Ashik is leading the 3D modelling team while Imran, Kajol and Rana are working on the character modelling and animation.

As for the Engine development & Game programming, Adnan is leading the team, with Ruman as game programmer and Remon, Zahid and Mishu are working as game engine developers.

eSophers also tagged along with a mate Md. Asif Ali to finish what they call a 'side scrolling platform game' called Eden Harbour. This is one of the few mobile (cellular phone) games made in Bangladesh, targeted for the Nokia 60 series sets.

Based on a sub-contract from Game Mix, a US-based software company, the picture slides (sprites) for the game have been supplied from abroad but the coding and final part are being done by the local boys. The game is expected to hit the market next year.

They mentioned that half of the work is already complete.

Another finished product of the group is Virtual Home Design (VHD), a cutomised modelling software. One of its features include 'interactive 3D walkthrough', which has been specially built for the real estate developers. With the VHD, building demonstration becomes very easy once they supply blueprints to eSophers. The team will design it, depicting a pictorial visual representation of the environment.

Buyers can visualise the virtual 3D design of the rooms along with furniture in it and can actually make a rough sketch of how their future home might look like after construction. It takes less time and at the same time, it is economical. At present, they are waiting for a sponsor to market the product.

This is another step towards an extension of their thought process.

For more details, readers may log on to http://esophers.com/.